


Angels in Amherst

by beforedesire



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Weeping Angels - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2019-05-26 00:35:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beforedesire/pseuds/beforedesire
Summary: River goes in search of the Doctor, but instead finds a rip in time and space that even he can't fix.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the overarching plot. Characters, ect. are the property of BBC, ect.

There are certain points in time that are fixed.

This is a law of the universe, and it is not to be broken- even by those who have the power to alter such events.

Those, of course, being the Timelords.

River Song was no exception to this rule.

She more than most, perhaps, understood the value of history—of things that are written in stone, unchanged, forever.

Her life, being backwards and forwards and incredibly tangled, had no such linear distinctions as that of the archives and papers she now found herself pouring over.

A new point in time was approaching.

November 21st, 2014. Amherst, Massachusetts.

She had signed on to be a guest lecturer at the university there, her topic being Roman Archaeology, and she could use her spare time to investigate the circumstances surrounding this obviously important point in time.

How did she know it was important?

Since she could remember, River always had inclination to look around things she shouldn't. Such tendencies, always in the forefront when she was working, had been in full force when she'd stumbled upon the Doctor's library.

A large room tucked away in the southern (or was it northern?) corridors of the TARDIS, River had found a curious book full of seemingly random dates. Not knowing what they meant, she had grabbed her phone and snapped pictures of the first few pages.

"Rivah!" The Doctor called. "Come back to—" She spun around, closing the book ever so quietly behind her back.

"What are you doing snooping around my things? These are very important, very necessary, very- thingy things!"

River laughed at her Doctor's disheveled state. He was wearing a black robe that tied loosely around his narrow frame and his hair was unkempt from the night before.

"Thingy things? Is that a technical term?"

He shook his head and moved forward, finger extended to bop his wife gently on the nose.

Making his way to the desk, his eyes caught the book she'd spotted earlier.

"Oh, hello there! I haven't seen you in a long time!" The Doctor cooed.

"Is it a journal?" River asked, feigning innocence.

"Ohhh, not just any journal River! These are fixed points in time! Well, at least the ones I could find. These are the one's I've found regarding… holes… in time in space."

"Holes?"

"Remember the crack in your mother's wall?"

"I do."

He flourished his fingers and flipped through the book. Finding the date, he showed the page to River. "See? There's the date for that."

Without his glasses, the dates were harder to see, and he moved away underneath a nearby lamp. "And here's the date we met in Manhatt-"

He stopped.

"River, River I'm sorry, is it still fresh?"

She shook her head and moved to hold his hand. "No, my love. It's been seven years for me."

The Doctor nodded, understanding. "I was wearing a new bowtie that day."

"I know."

She sighed, missing him. That goofy face. Those bowties. That one god-awful fez.

A face she feared she'd never see again.

That was the trouble with a non-linear life. She kept meeting younger and younger versions of him and each time he knew her less and less—and the knowing glances between them were gradually becoming non-existent.

Selfishly, she hoped that if she kept investigating these fixed points in time, eventually she'd run into him agai.

And not just any version of him—her Doctor.

So far her investigations hadn't revealed a lot. Most points were the deaths of prominent individuals, turning points in legislation or some other legal decision, but nothing that would have warranted the visit of a certain Doctor.

This date, however, was proving to be one for her books.

All around Amherst there were disturbances in the time vortex, little pockets of distorted energy that were wreaking havoc on her vortex manipulator and her curls.

She remembered his words, that the dates weren't just fixed points in time, but holes discovered in time.

There was something in the air, something so familiar she could almost taste it, but she couldn't figure out what it was just yet.

Grabbing her bag, she threw in her papers, journals, wallet, identification card, and a small laser gun. You know, just in case.

With one last glance around her tiny flat, she lifted her thermos off the table, switched off the lights, and headed out the door.

As she made her way to the stairs, an elderly woman caught her attention. The woman was sitting on the bench outside the elevator, reading the newspaper for the day. The headline on the front read:

UNIVERSITY STUDENT MISSING, NO LEADS.

She wondered if there was a chance that the student had been signed up for her lecture next week. She started to open the door to the stairway when the woman's voice stopped her.

"You're a teacher, aren't you? At the university?" She motioned toward her thermos. "I recognize the lettering."

River paused and nodded, "I am."

"You know this girl? This Laura Adams?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't. I'm not actually from here, I'm just visiting."

"Oh," the older woman said. "I see. Such a promising life. I do hope they find her-"

Alive, she insinuated, but did not say. River nodded. "I will see if I can find anything out, and I promise to let you know," she tried to sound reassuring.

"Sure, sure," the older woman said, and made her way back to her door.

River watched her retreat and then headed downstairs. As her feet hit the concrete steps, she wondered if Laura's disappearance had anything to do with the date in the journal.

If it did, Laura would have to have been involved in something far beyond Amherst, Massachusetts. Something large enough to make it to the Doctor's radar.

Once outside, she found a newspaper stand and paid the eight quarters for a copy. Scanning the article, she tried to pick out the pertinent information. Laura Adams. Senior at Amherst College. Physics major.

Physics.

If anything would prompt a response from a Timelord, it would be a human messing with the laws of physics.

But thousands of students do this research every year! Her rational side argued. No reason why this case is special.

Shrugging off her concerns, she made her way to the bus stop and waiting for the B-Line to arrive. A man shuffled in beside her, smelling of old coffee and cigarettes.

"Done with your paper?" He asked River.

She nodded and handed him the stack. He withdrew the classified section and returned the rest.

"Thank you ma'am."

She nodded, his words cut off by the approaching bus.

Tucking away the paper, she made her way to the line and stepped up into the over-sized vehicle.

River began making her way to the back when suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of blue- that blue she would know anywhere.

And before she knew it, she found herself throwing people out of the way, pushing, forcing her way back out of the bus and into the street.

"DOCTOR!" She cried, ignoring the protests of the people around her.

Whatareyoudoingwatchwhereyou'resteppingexcuseyou!

"DOCTOR!"

She heard the unmistakable grinding sound of the TARDIS, her engines revving up to propel its driver where he needed to go.

River dropped her coffee and ran forward, as if she could stop the time-traveling vessel by willpower alone.

But as she approached, the TARDIS faded away and she was left standing there, wondering if she'd actually seen the flash of blue or if her aching heart had wished it there.


	2. Chapter 2

Xxxxx

"Goddamn it!" River yelled, stomping her heel-clad food in protest. "God fucking damn it!"

She turned around and saw her coffee had managed to stay in its container, and the shiny thermos was lazily rolling back towards the curb. She walked over and picked it up.

"Hey lady, you gettin' on?" The bus driver hollered at River.

"Yes sir!" She replied, darting back onto the transit vehicle. "Thank you."

He grunted a reply and she found her way to the nearest available seat.

So, she thought to herself, the Doctor is here, in Amherst. So I'm on the right trail after all.

River couldn't help but feel anxious. If he had in fact come here because of the date in the journal, then that did mean that something was in fact wrong with the time line. There had to be some hole, some disturbance, some whatever that was drawing him here.

Again, she wondered if Laura Adam's disappearance had anything to do with it.

Grabbing her paper from her bag, she scanned the local section. Not knowing what she was looking for exactly, she eyed the titles of various articles to see if anything popped out.

About two minutes into her search, she stumbled on a small two-inch story about a young man who had disappeared five days prior. The man, Donald John Harold, or "DJ" had gone missing after a wild night of partying in a local bar. Police were hesitant to investigate, given DJ's age and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, but his parents were insisting on a formal investigation.

Finding nothing else, River tucked the paper into her bag and withdrew her journal. Flipping to the nearest blank page, she wrote down:

Laura Adams

Donald John "DJ" Harold

Two people, both around the same age, and both disappearing around the same time. Sad, but not unheard of in this day and age.

The bus lurched forward and screeched to a halt at the corner adjacent to the university. Luckily, the school was kind enough to lend out a small, unused office space for River while she was preparing her lecture, and she appreciated the easy access to the libraries.

As she made her way through campus, her heels making a steady clicking sound on the cobblestone, she noticed a rather large truck impeding traffic near the art building. From the way it was positioned, it was neither on the street or the sidewalk, but rather a cumbersome in between, and pedestrians and cars alike were having trouble getting around it.

"Bit messy isn't it?" A small voice said.

Anna Lithgard, a forensic anthropology professor, had been one of River's friends in the academia world for nearly ten years. Anna had been the one to help River land a guest lecturer position here, and she had always been a good source of general information regarding teaching and anthropology.

River turned to meet her colleague's blue eyes. "Hi, Anna! Yes it is, quite. D'you know what's going on?"

Part of River ached when she looked at Anna, because she knew this would probably be the last year she'd ever see her. Not by choice, of course, but not aging (and in fact aging in reverse) after ten years becomes slowly but surely noticeable, and River found it easier to drift in and out of people's lives rather than deal with the onslaught of inevitable inquiries regarding her appearance.

Anna lit a cigarette. "Some art professor is doing some sort of project dealing with statues and he had to order a lot of rocks or something like that. You should have seen it last year when he decided that steel rods were his new medium. Blew the entire budget in two weeks."

"Why's he still here?" River asked incredulously.

"Tenure," she replied with a shrug.

"Ah, I see. What kind of rocks?"

"Beg your pardon?" The blonde looked perplexed by the question.

"Like, granite or marble?"

"Hell if I know. I only heard about it through the grapevine."

"Ah."

Anna paused in front of their office building. "You heard about the disappearance?"

"I did. You know her?"

Anna shook her head. "No, but the physics department thinks very highly of her, apparently."

"It's sad."

"Isn't it?"

Anna took a few more drags before stubbing it out.

"Do you know about another disappearance that happened about five days ago? A man named DJ?"

Again the blonde shook her head. "I don't really watch the news very much. Really don't read the paper. I only knew about Laura from the university email."

River nodded and pulled open the door. "I'm sure in your line of work you see enough as it is,"

"I do, yes, and normally I get the nasty ending of it all." As a forensic anthropologist, Anna normally consulted on various cases in the larger area surrounding Amherst. Though not contracted to do so, she had begun working with the coroner's office at the request of the chief medical examiner. Apparently her reputation as a competent professor had followed her, and though her dissertation had focused on forensic anthropology as it applies to archaeological finds, the medical examiner still felt that her expertise was valuable to certain criminal investigations.

"Dr. Lithgard!" A voice called out, and a student with bushy brown hair appeared at her side.

"Dr. Song, catch you later?"

River smiled and waved and continued towards her office. Facing the southern side of campus, the tiny little space did have a beautiful view.

Sighing, she sat down heavily at her desk, placed her thermos in the corner, and began working through her lecture notes.

The Romans. Her mother's favorite. Her father had even been a Roman at one point in time. Oh, how she wished she could give a lesson on the Pandorica—now that would really be a lecture for the ages! She mused.

But instead of dwelling, she focused her thoughts to the task at hand and began editing and revising the many pages before her.

Xxxxxxx

When the sun had begun setting in the sky and the blue had given way to orange, River laid down her pencil and slowly rolled her neck. Stiff from the hours of writing, she felt the tension in her shoulders protesting at the sudden movement.

Knowing that she'd worked as long as she could stand, she gathered up her things and shut down her computer. Once her binders and books were in place, she forced her empty thermos into the remaining space and grabbed her keys. With a final glance backwards, she flipped off the lights, closed the door, and locked it for the night.

Even though it was relatively early, the campus was much more quiet than it had been this morning.

A few students meandered here and there, some looking as if they'd been through hell and back, others as if they'd been enlightened by some higher knowledge. That's how it normally was at a university, she mused, those who are drowning either from lack of sleep or alcohol, and those who were practically feeding off of the academic energy pulsing through the ivory halls.

"And then there are those who balance learning with drinking and grow up to be beautiful women. Hello, Dr. Song."

That voice.

That voice she'd know anywhere.

"Hello, Sweetie."

Xxxxxxxx

A/N: Ok, so a bit of an exposition chapter, but I wanted to get something out to everyone! I think this is going to be a 20ish chapter story…


	3. Chapter 3

Spinning around, River made sure her face was a stone mask. She would never, ever let him see how much his arrival meant to her. Ever.

He hates goodbyes. And she knew hers was quickly approaching.

As she turned to him, she looked him over, head to toe.

Legs crossed.

Deep maroon pants and a jacket to match.

Black vest.

Black bowtie.

Pocket watch.

Glasses.

Slicked back hair.

Oh. She thought. A treat.

This was her favorite version of the doctor.

He adjusted his bowtie and straightened up. "What brings you here to this lovely American city on this lovely day?"

River arched her eyebrow. "You're wearing glasses."

"That I am, Doctah Song, THAT I AM!" He took them off and handed them to her. "Try them on they are absolutely exquis—"

He froze, unsure of how to continue.

Sensing his hesitation, she stepped forward and put them on her face.

"How do I look?" She threw him an over the shoulder look.

The Doctor was caught off guard. In his moment of forgetting, he'd also forgotten just how green her eyes would have looked under the lenses' magnification. Oh my god he'd forgotten how bloody beautiful she was with those glasses.

"Good!" River said. "Thought so."

She handed them back and started to walk back towards her office. "It's been thirty years, Sweetie."

The Doctor ran his hand over his head. Thirty… thirty years wow… wow she looks brilliant for…

"Don't try to calculate my age, honey, it'll only give you a headache. Come on, we have work to do."

Clearing his throat, he tapped the screwdriver hidden beneath his suit and hurried forward.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Colin Lazzaro had a dream.

And in that dream, he saw those that stand and sing to God.

He saw angels.

So beautiful, so white, they sparkled and shone so much they blinded.

Their delicate hands covered their faces.

The next morning when he awoke, he grabbed his laptop and ordered the purest white marble he could find.

He had found his inspiration.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He liked how she'd decorated the office. He wondered if she picked out new things for each office, or if she carried around treasured pieces and made a duplicate home everywhere she went.

"You remember that journal you have?"

He nodded and extended his hands, "More specific,"

"Of holes in time and space."

He snapped and stood up straighter. "Yes, yes, yes I do! I do I think I have it on me."

His narrow fingers went inside his vest pocket and withdrew a rather large looking encyclopedia. "No that's not it."

Trying again, he went to the other side. "Screwdriver."

Back to the side he started with, "Ah! Got it!"

He pulled out the tattered thing that River remembered, and she gently took it from him. Flipping through the pages, she leaned underneath a light.

"Here." She pointed to a date and handed it to him. He peered down at the numbers. "Oh." He said.

"Oh?"

"Ohhhhh." He started pacing around the room. "Ohhhh that's what I was missing! Oh my god that is so frustrating why, why did I miss that?!" He started at the page and then hit himself in the forehead with the journal. "Stupid stupid I should have seen that! I did see that though that's why I came here but OHHHHH YESSSSS!"

"What? What is it?" River asked. God she hated it when he got in one of these rants.

"Come with me!" She grabbed her bag and switched off the lights and ran after him. "Where are we going?"

"Your apartment!"

"I am not having sex with you right now!"

He stopped and spun around, his face turning red from embarrassment.

"I… I… I was NOT going to suggest that, Rivah," And then as if remembering himself, he straightened up his bowtie.

"But I mean, if you wanted to…"

Pretending to look mad, she gave him a playful slap. "Get it your TARDIS!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The TARDIS landed behind her apartment complex. As she stepped out, she realized that the grass was sort of wet. It must have rained on this side of town earlier.

"Nice place! I like it. Those rocks are so… sturdy!"

River chuckled and reached into her bag for the key.

"I do rather like it here."

The silver key shone in the light as she stepped up to her door. It slid in silently as she twisted her wrist, and the fresh scent of vanilla wafted from inside.

She turned on the lights and placed her bag on the table. River went directly to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine.

"So what's your theory?" She asked her husband.

"My theory… my theory is… that… something is happening."

She waited for more, but nothing came.

"And?"

"And that's all I got so far. It's a working theory, a flexible theory."

"I see. Have you noticed the missing people?"

The Doctor took off his glasses and looked very somber. "Yes, I did."

"So you think that's significant do."

"I do yes. Especially since Ms. Adams had discovered some… footage."

"Footage?"

He replaced his glasses.

"Byzantium."

River's eyes grew wide and she nearly dropped her glass. "No! That was destroyed! I was there, YOU were there!"

He nodded. "I know. Apparently we didn't have the only copy."

"But that's from the 51st Century! That tape shouldn't be here at all!"

"I know. But it is. Or was. I can't find it anywhere."

River took another sip. "Ok, so, she looked at the tape and got sent back?"

The Doctor sighed. "It would appear so."

She thought for a moment. "So then the angel is still loose?"

"Probably."

Pause.

"But then why aren't more people missing?"

He shot up from his seat and started pacing. "See that's what I can't figure out either, this," he made large circles with this hands, "area is a buffet… a time feast! It could easily give power to a whole plethora of angels but for some reason they only wanted her. Why, why did it only want her?"

"So she was meant to see the tape. What about the other boy?"

"What other boy?" His eyes lit up.

"There was something in the paper,"

"Show me!"

River moved over to her bag and withdrew her laptop. She pulled up the newspaper's online version and showed him the article.

"Okay. Okay this, this is something."

He stood up.

"Let me see what I can find, and I'll find you tomorrow."

"Do you promise?"

She immediately felt stupid. Why did she say that? Of course he would come back if he said he would… at least, she desperately wanted to believe that. But what was a day to him? What if he ran off and the next time they met up, she'd be going to the Library?

He came forward and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I promise."

River unconsciously leaned into him, but before she could touch him, she felt herself falling forward.

He had already left.


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor did not, in fact, return the following day.

Or the day after that.

Or the day after that.

River ought not to be surprised. She should be used to this. His absence is as regular as the tides. How often had she woken up alone, spend her days alone, her nights lonelier. She'd lost count.

Her big lecture was three weeks away, and she was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on gathering her material. Sure, she could give an off-the-cuff speech and be fantastic, but damn it she was trying to be a professional.

Flipping open her computer, she grabbed a journal and began making a chronological timeline for her first slide.

Step One: Establish a frame for the events.

Step Two: Begin at the beginning.

How arbitrary, she thought. Beginning. What is a beginning? What is an end?

Time was never so straightforward.

A knock at the door broke her from the philosophical digression.

"Got a moment?" Anna asked, her blonde hair a bit sweaty and messy.

"Been to the gym?"

Nodding, the petite professor began methodically wrapping her headphones around her iPod.

"I have to run everyday or else I'd go mad."

"It's bad for your knees."

"Life's bad for your knees."

River submitted. "Touché. So, what can I do for ya?"

Plopping down in an adjacent chair, Anna began massaging her temples.

"It's that fucking art prof."

"Hitting on you?"

Blue eyes widened. "Oh, fuck no, no. I'm talking about the new project."

"Rock boy?"

"The same."

River nodded for her to continue.

"It's granite."

"Cool."

She slammed her hands down. "Not fucking cool! It's LOUD. AS HELL. And the studio is right beside my goddamn office. I can't get any work done!"

River smiled in sympathy. "I'm sorry."

With a dismissive wave, Anna let out a grumble. "Not your fault."

"Anything I could do?"

"You could go piss on all his precious fucking rocks."

The red head laughed. "Oh gods, I would like to get paid for this lecture!"

Shrugging, "Aw, come on, you'd get paid."

Anna stood and stretched her back. "Is that what you're working on now? Your lecture?"

"Mmhmm… Trying to figure out the format of it all. I'm kind of new to power point."

"Topic? What was it?"

"Romans."

The anthropologist laughed. "The dark, handsome, Italian men. Lovely."

Now it was River's turn to groan. "I'm so bad at planning ahead."

"Me too."

The two sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

"So, what if we just go look at them?" Anna said in an excited whisper.

"Them?"

"The carvings that nutty prof is doing! Let's check em out!"

River scoffed. "No… No I…"

Anna gave her a fierce look. "Come on. Do it."

With a deep breath, River closed her laptop.

"Alright. Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor smelled the air.

Granite, what a distinct smell! What a sharp smelling rock! So much better than those sedimentary rocks he'd dealt with before.

Turn left. Right. No, no another left. Definitely another left.

What a fantastic place! All these buildings meant for nothing but learning! How brilliant! How rich! How-

"RIVAH!"

"Doctor?!"

The blonde looked confused, then threw up her hands. "Anna!"

Spinning on his heel, the Doctor smoothed out his hair and stuck out his hand. "Dr. Lithgard, the pleasure is mine."

River rolled her eyes. What a flirt.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Thought you'd never return."

He looked confused for a moment. "I was only gone for a jiff. A little jiff."

She arched her eyebrow.

"Perhaps, perhaps a medium size jiff. A rather, large, medium sized jiff."

Straightening his bowtie and clearing his throat, he regained his composure.

"Better question, what are you all doing here?"

Anna answered, "To see the creative genius of one of our colleges. Granite, apparently, is his inspiration this time."

The Doctor smiled, and looked to River to confirm. "Granite. How fascinating. Show me!"

With a cheeky grin, the anthropologist pushed forward. "Follow me."

The hallway led to a staircase, and the three descended towards the art studio below.

After a couple of turns, the trio stopped in front of a violet door.

Anna tilted her head towards the door. "This is it." She reached for the handle, but to her dismay, it was bolted shut. "Damn it!"

The Doctor stepped forward with a flourish. "Allow me."

"Show off."

Smiling, the Doctor opened his jacket and withdrew his screwdriver. The sonic sounded, and from within the locks twisted and clicked open.

"How did you do that?"

Anna turned to her friend. "How'd he do that?"

Shrugging, "Haven't the faintest."

With the door no longer a barrier, the three stepped inside.

"Holy shit!" Anna said. "They're fucking huge. I'd thought they'd be like, garden ornaments. Those are like, goin' on seven feet!"

Fear crept into River's chest. "Doctor."

"I know, I see it, I know, I'm thinking, I'm thinking."

The archeologist took a baby step backwards. "We should leave." Grabbing Anna's hand, she moved towards the door.

"Doctor, we need to go!"

Anna looked confused. "What? Why?" She turned and looked at her colleague.

"What's the matter?!"

Green eyes stayed affixed to the statue in front of her.

The lower portion of the statue looked complete, but the wings were still roughly outlined. The head would eventually be bowed forward.

"I don't think it's dangerous yet," The doctor breathed. "But,"

"Just in case,"

They both whispered, "Don't blink."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


	5. Chapter 5

River kept her eyes trained to the figure in front of her. Although her colleague didn't understand the danger they were in, Anna kept her hand firmly in River's.

Reaching behind, the Doctor grasped the handle. "GO!"

The two women turned and bolted.

Crossing the threshold, River reached out and grabbed her husband.

Three pairs of feet echoed throughout the hallway. The labyrinth of beige concrete seemed to amplify the sound, and the lights flashed angrily as they tore through the corridor.

"There's the exit!" Anna exclaimed. With her free hand, she hit the metal bar, and the trio stumbled out onto the lawn.

A few stray students looked at them with humor and curiosity before continuing on their way.

The Doctor leaned against a tree and tried to catch his breath. River's hands went to her hips.

"Aw Rivah, why are you cross?"

She laughed wildly.

"Why am I… Why am I cross?! How did we miss this?!"

He straightened his vest. "I… We… didn't MISS miss it, per se… we were… close… we were in the neighborhood…"

Anna looked confused as ever.

"We walked into a fucking lair!"

"Lair's a bit excessive,"

"Who's lair?" The blonde asked.

The couple turned towards her, as if they'd forgotten she was privy to the crisis at hand.

The Doctor started to explain, but River cut him off.

"Not here,"

"Office?"

River turned toward her colleague. Nodding, she gave once last glance towards the art building.

"Yes, my office. We'll explain there."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So an image of an Angel becomes an Angel itself?" The anthropologist seemed to be following. The Doctor nodded approvingly- River had good taste in friends.

"Exactly."

"But there were no images before…"

"Before these statues, yes."

"And so you have no idea how he came up with the concept?"

The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair. "I just don't see how he could have… I mean… How could… Who could… What could…"

River shook her head. "It doesn't make sense. I had no idea that anyone else knew about them, at least, not in this time and place."

"And had he seen them in person-"

"He would have been zapped back," The blonde finished.

The Doctor pointed at her. "YES! Fast learner, this one!"

"Thank you!" she smiled proudly.

River paced the room. "What about a journal? A log?"

He shook his head. "None accessible to humans."

"As opposed to?" The professor went back to looking confused.

The Timelords exchanged a glance. "Other… species… It's complicated…"

Anna looked dubious.

River interjected, "Just believe us, don't try and think on it too hard. I'll explain it eventually."

The Doctor started clapping. "Oh, let's show her! Let's!"

The archaeologist paused. Did she want to include Anna in this secret realm of hers? It would either solidify their friendship or completely dissolve it. Would it jeopardize her standing at the university? Could she really trust her?

As if she was reading her mind, Anna cried, "I'm good at secrets, I swear!"

With a sigh, River acquiesced. "All right, but just to warn you, it's…"

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"...Bigger on the inside!"

The blonde kept spinning in circles, as if rotating could allow her to comprehend the TARDIS around her. Then, almost in a panic, she ran back to the door. The Doctor could almost picture her circling around the blue box, assessing the outward dimensions in comparison to the interior.

"And it travels in time?"

"And space."

"So time is arbitrary?"

"More or less. Things happen in a certain order, in a certain way, but…"

"But their geological timeline, as we see it on Earth, doesn't apply to the entirety of Time and Space." River concluded.

"So it's like a big ball of yarn?"

The Doctor smiled. "Oh, that's a good simile! I like that!"

"So if all of Time is interconnected, then the Angel's presence on Earth would mean,"

"That they could appear elsewhere, yes."

"And where were they before? Were they alive and thriving?"

"Complicated," the Doctor began. "Some are biologically locked, either from looking in a mirror or at themselves. Some are nearly dead after starving for years and years, and others are… not yet created."

"Can Angels feed on other animals?"

Again, the Doctor searched for the right words. "Animal is a tricky concept. You humans seem to think there's a clear distinction between human and nonhuman nature, but in fact the criterion for both categories is highly influenced by the ideology of the day!"

River rolled her eyes. "Philosophy aside, Doctor, yes, Angels can feed on other life forms. But only on those whose life and timeline is inherently altered by being sent back in time. For creatures or animals lacking a sentient consciousness, their existence can exists at many points in time. For example, the squirrels on campus, they can live five years ago or ten years from now and largely remain the same. But if you were to disappear back in time, imagine the cases you would have never solved, the technology you would have never improved… This, this is the energy, the potential energy, that the Angels thrive on."

The blonde nodded, taking in all the information. Then, with blue eyes wide, she voiced the question on all of their minds.

"So, where does this leave us?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that evening, the Doctor sat awkwardly in River's kitchen. His hands felt clumsy against the wine glass. His fingers were too long, the glass was too clear, or not clear enough. And the wine- ugh god how does anyone ever drink this?!

His wife didn't seem much better off either. She kept pacing about, cleaning spots that weren't there, twisting her finger around a stray hair, making the mass of curls more unruly by the minute.

As much as he tried to ignore it, she was doing delicious things to him.

"Rivah."

Silence.

Hair twirl.

"Rivah could you sit down? Please?"

Green eyes snapped up.

"Aren't I sitting?"

She looked down at her legs, and was mildly surprised to find them supporting her weight.

"Oh," she giggled. "I hadn't realized. They take off without me."

But she didn't sit beside her husband. Instead, River turned to face the sink, grabbed the wine, and refilled her glass.

She kept telling herself to stop being mad and stop acting like a child!

He was her husband, but he wasn't her husband. He was everyone's, whether they knew it or not. They, the abstract they would always come before her. No singular person could hold him the way they do.

Hands traced up the side of her legs. "Rivah, please, talk to me."

Shying away, "There's nothing to tell."

The Doctor hung his head. "I'm not going to force you-"

"As if you could!" She tried to sound flirtatious, but her tone missed its mark.

Minutes passed.

River tucked away a curl.

The Doctor checked his watch.

Folded his arms.

Crossed his legs.

Finally, he rasped out, "I know I'm late."

The wine was bitter on River's throat, the deep flavors of the merlot warming everything except her heart.

"Rivah, please."

Teary, emerald eyes forced their way to his. Her lips trembled; her hands shook. With a feather-light touch, she ran her fingers over his jacket, tracing the delicate lining as one might braille, wishing it'd give her the answers she so desperately sought.

"I…" she began.

But before another word escaped, a shrill alarm pierced the air.

"Sorry! Sorry! New… thingy, this thingy Clara's got me…"

From deep within he withdrew a rectangular, white phone. It was a slightly newer model than River's own mobile.

The Doctor grabbed River's face and kissed her nose. "I promise, I'll be-"

"Right back," she finished, turning away from his conflicted face.

Crossing her arms, she exhaled, and tried to fake a smile. She could at least give him a nice farewell. He had bought her wine, after all.

"See you-"

But she fell silent, for her kitchen was empty once again.

xxxxxxxx


	6. Chapter 6

Much to her surprise, the Doctor did come back inside a few moments later.

"Clara, you remember Clara, right?" he asked.

"The small brunette, yes."

"Exactly! Apparently she's been doing some research for me. And this art professor, this Colin Lazzaro of yours hasn't been doing anything out of the ordinary recently, but apparently this is his first time using rocks as his medium."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, apparently he's not only ordered granite, but white marble as well. Which could mean that he's trying to make something even more fantastic than a regular angel."

"More fantastic? How can that be?" River took a deep gulp of her wine.

"I think that if you change the composition of what an angel's made of, maybe it could enhance their power. The ones at the Byzantium lasted for a long time in their material, perhaps if it had been a weaker rock they wouldn't have made it."

River thought for a moment, pacing around her kitchen. "So what are the granite ones for?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Practice, maybe? Maybe he wants to have more than just the one big marble."

"But we haven't even seen the marble yet," River said.

"According to Clara, it's being shipped. Hasn't arrived yet."

She paused. "Ok, so what do we do now? Should we talk to Lazzaro himself?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not sure yet. Could be dangerous. He could know where the recording is that Laura saw. Could be se saw it too."

"If he saw it then why hasn't he been snapped back in time yet?"

"Maybe the angels have chosen him."

They sat silently, solemnly together. That was a terrifying thought—that the angels might have had the sentience to pick out humans to do their bidding. Certainly they'd seen the angel collector in Manhattan, but even he couldn't escape their grasp when they took over.

"Do you think Anna is in trouble?" River asked. She still didn't know how she felt letting her friend in on their secrets.

"I think it's good to have someone looking in on the outside. And she seems very smart, very clever, she could be really useful," he said.

His tone changed and he moved his way closer to River.

"Rivah, I wanted you to know that,"

"Don't say it," she whispered. "I already know."

"Do you?"

He moved closer, his hand tracing faint patterns on her arm. "I do love you, Rivah. It's just,"

"Complicated," she finished. "I know it is."

"No, not complicated. Not complicated, it's simple, really, it's very, very simple." He placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Very simple."

"Prove it," River challenged, and hinted towards the bedroom.

Arching his eyebrows, the Doctor straightened up and cleared his throat. Motioning towards the bedroom door, he took her wineglass out of her hand and placed it on the counter.

"After you, Dr. Song."

xxxxxxx

The next day, campus was unusually busy, and River found herself wishing that she could stay at home with her husband for the day instead of going into class for a lecture.

He'd hinted that he might show up and listen to her afternoon seminar, and she hoped that he'd keep his word, but knew that he just as well might not.

She'd only been in her office for a few minutes when a knock jolted her from her work.

"River?" Anna's voice came through.

"Come in!"

The anthropology professor looked excited, her eyes were wide and she had a big smile on her face.

"I found something I think you might be interested in!"

She reached into her knapsack and withdrew a black binder. "It's from the physics department. This are the records and logs regarding student research. Laura's are in here, too."

River gasped. "How did you manage to find this?!"

Anna gave a sneaky smile. "I have a few friends in the right places!"

She dropped the binder on River's desk with a satisfying thud. River flipped the pages open, and she was surprised at the amount of work these students were doing.

"Impressive," she said.

"I think Laura's should be around the front sections somewhere, I think they're supposed to be in alphabetical order."

Sure enough, after a few pages, River was able to find Laura's logs. At first, her lessons seems straightforward enough, but River knew the Doctor would have to look these over to make much sense of them.

"Thank you, Anna, I'll give these to the Doctor."

She nodded. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, just preparing to give my lecture tonight." She glanced up at the clock. "Damn, I have to start heading there now. Chat later?"

"Sure, just keep me posted if I can do anything else."

"Thank you!"

River grabbed her bag and stuffed the binder inside. She was anxious to get it to the Doctor, but it would have to wait until after her lecture was over.

xxxxxxx


	7. Chapter 7

River's lecture hall filled up nicely, and she was thankful that the Doctor hadn't appeared yet. She didn't know why she was nervous, but something about seeing all those faces peering up at her always made her heart jump a few extra beats.

The students who sat on the first row were her favorite, they were the ones who weren't shy about being seen or heard. One of the students, a strawberry blonde named Rachel, had already been to River's office beforehand to ask questions prior to the lecture. She was seated in the direct center in front of River's podium.

"Good afternoon, students, let's begin. Rome..." 

She paused. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the side hall door open and a thin figure slip past, a figure she'd know anywhere. She couldn't help but smile-- he'd kept his word. 

"Rome began as a settlement in the Italian peninsula, dating back from the 8th century BC. Gradually, over time, the civilization developed into the empire famous today. The Romans have influenced us in many ways, from law and literature to arts and politics."

She moved her mouse and a PowerPoint appeared overhead with a map of Italy. 

"Here, we see listed the surrounding civilizations around Rome, including Carthage, which would become their foe during the First Punic War in 264 BC..." 

xxxx

After the lecture, a few students stayed behind to ask a few questions. River noticed the Doctor lurking close to the back door, and she hoped he wouldn't slip out before she finished answering. 

As the last of the students filed out, he made his way down front. 

"I feel rejuvenated in my knowledge of Ancient Rome, River," he declared. "What a treat!"

She couldn't help but smile. "Romans were-"

"Your mother's favorite. I remember," he smiled wistfully. 

River patted his shoulder. "Let's go to my office. I have something for you." 

They exited together, and River resisted the urge to take his hand as they walked through campus. It was such a beautiful day, the sun was pouring through the trees, and the students seemed to hum with renewed energy for the fall semester. It was River's favorite time to be on campus-- everything was fresh with possibility. The deadlines for term papers still looming far away, the students were able to immerse themselves in the culture of the university.  

The Doctor seemed to be right at home too, for his fresh suit made him look like a regular academic. He could easily pretend to work here, River mused, if they were ever caught lurking about. 

Arriving at the office, the Doctor held open the door as River stepped inside. The air conditioning felt rather cool against her skin-- River hadn't noticed how warm she'd gotten from walking in the sun. 

"What have you got for me?" The Doctor asked.

"Right. Well, Anna did some digging, and she found this," she said, withdrawing the binder from her sack. 

"What's this?"

"It's the records and logs of student research," she said. "The missing girl's work is in here."

"Let me see," he said, donning his glasses. 

A few murmurs, some nodding, a flurry of fingers, the Doctor poured over the pages. 

River sat at her desk and drank some coffee from her thermos. "Anything?"  
  
"It does seem that she was interested in some very timey topics." 

"Timey topics?"

"Yes, seems our Laura was interested in the way matter can move through time and space, and she theorizes that, in small increments, matter could in fact move backwards. Her numbers seem sound, but she hasn't found concrete proof. Just theories at this point." 

"How did that lead her to the angels?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, but these formulas are almost dead-on. Just a few digits and symbols away from figuring it out. Impressive for a human." 

River thought for a moment. "What would the implications be if she did correct those symbols?" 

"Then humans would have to come up with the technology to prove her theories, which so far they haven't, so figuring them out on their own wouldn't lead to much without the ability to test it, unless of course someone who didn't want her to know that information found out." 

"Who wouldn't want her to know?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Some species are determined to keep the humans in their place on their own planet. No telling the repercussions if they started really messing with time and space." 

River nodded. "Seems reasonable. So how does this get us back to the angels? They aren't interested in her calculations, surely." 

He thought for a moment. "What about Lazzaro?"

"What about him?"

"Do you think he found these logs? These equations?" 

River shrugged. "He's an art professor, though, no way he would have the knowledge to decipher these." 

"But somehow they must be linked. Laura wants to look for movement in time and space, he is creating something that specializes in moving things through time and space. Rivah, this raises more questions than it answers." 

"What about the other missing boy?" River asked. "What's his connection? Are his logs in there?" 

"What was his name?"

"DJ something, I don't remember seeing his last name in the paper." 

The Doctor flipped through the logs. "I'm not seeing anything here," 

"Ok, so perhaps he wasn't connected,"

"Or maybe he just wasn't in the physics department. River, can you find out more information about him?"

She nodded. 

"Good," he said. "But for now, let me get back to the TARDIS and look at these equations."

xxxxxxx

Lazzaro's students did not understand his enthusiasm. 

They were fourth year sculpting seniors, they should be working on their own final projects, not being recruited to help their crazy professor build his own collection. Certainly the design was simple enough, but why on earth was he wanting to have so many angels? It wasn't for a graveyard, that much he'd said, so what kind of sponsor or patron would want to have so many of the same statue? 

Still, anxious for their grades to be good, they reluctantly agreed to help. The granite was pliable enough, and soon enough the angels began to take shape. 

Lazzaro, for his part, seemed to be preoccupied by his own angel statue which was to be made of white marble. He'd taken to hiding himself away in a private studio to work on it, and refused to let anyone near it. 

Still, Lazzaro thought to himself, what he wouldn't give to have DJ back in the art studio. His student's disappearance had not shaken him so much as disappointed him. DJ was perhaps the only student who had previously worked on granite materials, and he would have made a perfect angel. Hell, he was so skilled he probably could have made two or three statues in the time it took the others to complete the one. 

He wondered what had happened to him, but he didn't bother following the news. Art students disappear all the time, either they drop out or they simply quit coming to class. Whatever the deal was, Lazzaro was too preoccupied with his new task to give the student much thought. 

xxxx 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for you, my one reader who comments ;)


	8. Chapter 8

Laura sat with her legs crossed on the floor of her apartment. 

Last night, she had discovered something rather peculiar on her computer. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, a new folder entitled "Document B" appeared on her laptop. She hadn't downloaded anything, hadn't updated her computer-- she had no idea where the new folder came from. 

Laura opened the folder, and realized it contained just a small zip file. She'd been unable to open it on campus, but now at home, she was able to download software to open up the file. 

Excitedly, she flicked her fingers across her track pad and awaited the file to complete its transfer. Once done, she quickly opened it. 

The image was grainy and hard to make out, just a mess of black and white static that looked more grey in the light. Confused, Laura wondered why this video had made its way to her computer. 

Just as she was about to turn it off, a covered face appeared before her. It wasn't just any face, it was a statue. She noticed the wings behind it, and figured it must be found footage of some sort of cemetery statue. She watched the image flicker on her screen for a few more seconds before closing it. 

"Weird," she said, and thought nothing more of it.   
xxxxxxx 

DJ took another shot of tequila. He had decided that this was his favorite drink for the summer. He wasn't ready to go back to campus in the fall. One last semester and he'd have his degree, but he could use a few more weeks enjoying the warm weather. 

A few of his friends were still at the bar playing pool, but he was getting a little tired and tipsy. He checked his watch, 11:30pm. Figuring he'd call it a night, he waved to his friends and made his way to the door. 

It wasn't a long walk to his apartment, and DJ figured he could use the night air before heading to bed. Clear air was always good to stop a hangover. 

He walked around the corner and noticed someone lurking in the alleyway. They seemed to be crying, at least, their heads were bowed down in their face. He couldn't see their expression, but he felt compelled to move closer. 

"Hey, hey you! Are you alright?" He called out. 

A truck passed and honked the horn. He turned his head, and when he looked back, the figure was in front of him. 

And then he blinked, and he was gone. 

xxxxxxxx 

The Doctor was working in his TARDIS, trying to figure out just how the Byzantium footage had made its way to Laura Adams. 

So far, he had been able to trace the footage back to the original film it had been saved on, but the hard drive had been destroyed and it seems the film had disappeared with it. 

However, despite the fact that the hard drive was gone, it seems that the video footage had some how survived. Maybe one of the soldiers had kept a backup somewhere and it had escaped? 

The Doctor kept searching, but so far all he could find was more evidence that the footage didn't exist. 

Just when he'd given up, one of his screens on the TARDIS interface turned a bright green. 

"What have you got me you beauty?" He rubbed his hands together. Finally, maybe this was good news. 

The screen started displaying various formulas and equations. Equations that seemed vaguely familiar... 

"Laura's equations!" The Doctor yelled, and he ran back to grab the binder to see if they matched. Sure enough, when he checked Laura's equations against the TARDIS', they were a dead match. 

"What does this mean?" He asked. "What did you find?" 

The computer kept going, the equations didn't seem to end. The Doctor followed them in Laura's logs, but they weren't complete, and soon the computer had done more than he had records for. Had Laura discovered these equations too? 

Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, they vanished. All that was left was a little icon of a file folder labeled "Document B." 

The Doctor's eyes widened. He tapped on the icon. The TARDIS flashed red, a warning. It sensed danger. 

Inside was a zip file, but the Doctor already knew what it contained. He hit a series of buttons on the panel, and the screen went black. 

So that's how it happened. A series of equations could bring back a video file. How? It didn't make sense, but obviously it worked as some sort of portal back to the Byzantium. He'd never seen anything like it before, and he doubted he'd see it again. But this, this must have been how Laura found the angels. If the equations linked back to the lost footage, then it means that not only did she get captured by an angel, but she released one as well. 

"Think, think," the Doctor said. "Let me think. If the equations are entered into a larger database, then it triggers something like a file download. How? How?" He paced. "It must work like a time portal, a time vortex." He spun and walked the other way. Rubbed his head. "Yes, so when the tapes were destroyed in the Byzantium, they must have just been relocated in time, lost in space, not just deleted from a file. Of course! If the image of an angel becomes an angel itself, then you couldn't really destroy that image simply by removing the file. If the file existed, numerically or through equations, or through binary code, then entering those numbers would bring it back. It must work now because the internet exist. That would give Laura a large enough database for the equations to reach back to the source." 

River-- he had to go and find River. 

They needed to get into the school database and fast. Laura's equations needed to be deleted, or someone else would have access to that video file. 

xxxxxxxx


	9. Chapter 9

River waited patiently at the bus stop for the morning ride to campus. She hadn't heard back from the Doctor, and she was growing concerned. Every day, the art students would be working on the angels, and everyday they would be growing stronger, going into their final form. She felt like something needed to be done to stop the progress of the statues, but she was at a loss of how to do it. 

She could complain to the art department, but she was a visiting lecturer, and the art department wasn't anywhere near her purview of expertise. To alert those in charge about the danger of the angels would make her seem insane and irrational, yet doing nothing would make her at least partially responsible if anything happened. 

The bus rolled into campus and she filed out with everyone else. It was almost midterm time, and everyone seemed to be more frantic than they'd been in weeks past. 

Making her way to her office, River hoped that the Doctor would appear soon and give her some answers. Sure enough, as she approached the door to her office, a sliver of light peeked its way around the door frame-- someone was already inside. 

"River," the Doctor greeted her. "I found something!" 

"Do tell!" She sat at her desk and crossed her legs. 

"Apparently, Laura downloaded a version of the file accessed through her equations. It's a bit tricky how it all works, but apparently that video file must have released an angel." 

"I don't understand."

The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay, how to explain... it's like this-- the video file exists somewhere in time and space. It has a code, a code that can be retrieved through equations. It seems that Laura's research tapped into that equation and retrieved the video file from the future. If she opened the file, then the image of an angel would have become an angel itself." 

"So there's already an angel loose?" 

"Yes, it would appear so."

"So we have the loose angel from Laura's computer and the angels yet to be created in the art studio." 

"Correct!" 

River thought for a moment. "So how does DJ factor into this? Did he go missing because of the angels?" 

The Doctor shook his head. "Still don't know about that yet." 

"And do you have any idea how the angels were able to get Lazzaro to build themselves?" 

"Still working on that. I'm going to do some digging today." 

River nodded. "Where to first?" 

"The art studio." 

xxxxxxx

 

The two walked towards the art building with apprehension. They didn't know how much of the angels had been completed, or if they were alive and active. 

They approached the studio and peered through the door window. There was one student there, working on chiseling away at the angel's wings. 

The Doctor tried the door, found it unlocked, and came through. 

"Hello, Art student!" 

The kid turned slightly and nodded. "Sup, dude?" 

The Doctor straightened his bow tie. "Dude, yes, I'm a dude!" River rolled her eyes. "What do we have here?"

The student shrugged and placed his chisel on the stool. "It's our professor's personal project. He wants all these angels, but he won't tell us why. It's not even for our senior projects, it's just extra for the class. He won't tell us anything about it. Stays in his personal studio most of the time." 

"Is he here now?" River asked. 

The kid shook his head. "Just missed him." 

"So he hasn't said what he's working on?"

"Oh, no, he told us, he's working on a white marble angel. He just wants us to make an army." 

The Doctor grimaced. "An army indeed." 

"But he just keeps complaining because we are carving slow. He just wants to have DJ back." 

River and the Doctor looked at each other in shock. "DJ? The one that went missing?"

The student nodded. "Yep. He's the best carver in the class. He always works with granite. But he didn't come back this semester for some reason. He went missing right before the semester started. Professor L keeps complaining that we don't work as fast as he did." 

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you for this information.... um...." 

"Jared," the kid supplied. "No worries." 

River and the Doctor turned and left. Once in the hall, they put their heads together in quick whispers. "So that's that then-- the angels want DJ for themselves because he can make angels faster. They're having him work in another point in time I bet!" River said. 

"Something like that, yes, yes, it would seem they need him separate to do something special for them." 

"So Laura and DJ are not dead, presumably."

"Presumably." 

They walked into the courtyard. The sun was high in the sky, the day was bright. 

"So, Doctor, what next?" 

The Doctor walked a couple steps, turned, paced, resumed his position. 

"I think we need to revisit the Byzantium." 

xxxxxxxxxxx


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little longer chapter, but hopefully going to be finishing up the whole piece in the scheduled 12 chapters.

In the TARDIS, River resisted the urge to take over the controls as the Doctor pulled levers this way and that. He was mulling something over in his head, and he kept giving her sideways glances.

“I know that look,” she said.

“What look?”

“You need to ask me something. Just spit it out, Sweetie!”

 The Doctor turned away and rubbed his hands together, contemplating the best way to approach the touchy subject.

“The last time we were at the Byzantium, you were there on a covert operation with Father Octavian.”

River nodded. “I was.”

“I was thinking,” he scratched his head. “Didn’t Father Octavian already have a copy of the angel on the recording before we arrived?”

“We had hacked into the Byzantium vault’s security footage and found it there. But it should have been destroyed after everything went back into the crack in time, right?”

“But the video file would have still existed within the vault’s hardware, and someone could have gotten the footage before you and Father Octavian.”

River shook her head, “You think someone on the Byzantium did something with it before?”

The Doctor nodded. “If we can go back and locate where the video had been stored, I might be able to pull some information from the system, maybe whoever stole the footage left a trace of it there. How much information was he actually sharing with you, River?”

 “What do you mean?” She asked.

“Well,” he said, scratching his nose, “You were there as a prisoner.”

River thought for a moment, “True. I don’t know. He could have withheld information.” 

The TARDIS began whirring and slowing down, and gently dropped down onto the soil of the Aplands.

The Byzantium was largely unchanged since the last time River and The Doctor had laid eyes on it. Of course, they had just landed merely hours after their last departure.

The remnants of the ship were still smoldering, and there were parts of the wreckage scattered about the plain. River shuddered at the thought of traversing the Maze of the Dead.

As if reading her thoughts, the Doctor said, “Don’t you have a vortex manipulator? Can we just get straight to the ship?”

 "Good plan.”

River went back into the TARDIS and into her satchel and retrieved the small device. Returning outside, she found the Doctor kneeling on the ground, and he seemed like he was about to lick the sand. 

“Sweetie, what are you doing?!”

And he did lick the sand. “Something’s been here since we left. There are traces of atomizers here.”

“Grab my hand,” River commanded. A few punches on her manipulator, and they were launched into the Maze of the Dead.

They appeared at the ship’s control center, right where they’d been when the crack in time had closed.

The Doctor began looking at the panels, sonic screwdriver working fiercely to unravel the secrets beneath.

“River, take apart that console, just there,” he instructed. He beamed the sonic at her and the console door opened.

“Look for a blue and red wire, that should be the video cable from the vault,” he said.

River pushed the wires this way and that, pulled out the motherboard pieces, but there was no elusive blue and red wire. “Nothing.”

“Me either,” he said. “I know someone’s been here. There should be cable here to access the vault’s recordings, but it’s gone. Someone’s taken them. Look,” he pulled out a piece of the console. Sure enough, there was a space where a wire should have been connected, but it was missing. 

“We need to go to the ship’s hard drive,” the Doctor said. He licked his finger and tested the air. “This way!”

The magnets were still holding the door in place, and it took the sonic a couple of seconds to undo their magnetic pull. The doors proved difficult to open, and both River and the Doctor strained their arms to budge the metallic doors away from their holdings.

Once inside the corridor, River found herself flooded with memories, memories of them running away from the Angels, of her mother’s close brush with death after looking at the Angel too long, of being held captive as a prisoner.  

The Doctor pressed forward, crouching down to avoid the low ceilings. Down, down into the belly of the ship they went, and River could feel the spacecraft settling down into the rocks.

“Just up ahead,” The Doctor said as they approached another set of impressive doors. “This is where all the data would be backed up and stored. If there’s a video file here, this is where it’ll be.” He ran his fingers through his hair and thrust his sonic towards the door.

The metal clanged inside, the gears turned, and slowly, the doors pulled open to reveal a complex machine inside.

“Where do we start?” River asked.

The Doctor leaned close and inspected the hardware this way and that way, trying to decipher its secrets. He traced his sonic around the frame and checked the data.

“This way,” he said, and made his way towards the back of the machine. “Ah hah!” He exclaimed. “They didn’t find this!”

A few more waves of the sonic, and the machine whirred and beeped, the lights flashed, and then a small object ejected from the side.

“What is it, Doctor?” River asked.

“It’s all the security footage that’s ever been taken from the Byzantium vault. If the video of the Angel is still around, it should be housed here.”

“But how could it have gotten to Laura’s computer?”

“Let’s go back to the TARDIS. I think I have an idea.”

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

  


Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor uploaded the Byzantium’s video footage. He checked the time logs to see which files would correlate to when the Angel was housed.

Instead of finding the video file, he found the series of equations that he’d seen on Laura’s research.

“Someone’s replaced the actual video with an equation.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that someone else had to go through and find the hard drive and taken the original footage.”

“And you’re sure this couldn’t have happened because of the crack in time?”

The Doctor scratched his head, folded his arms. “The crack would have erased those angels from recent history, so if it had erased them fully, there wouldn’t be equations either. Someone had to go back before the crack happened and made the files permanent before we had even arrived. Someone’s been planning the arrival of these Angels for a long time.”

The TARDIS beeped loudly, and the screen flashed red.

“Hold on!” The Doctor cried. “Hold on, Sexy, what have you got for me!”

The equations twisted and flashed on the console screen, then a map appeared.

“It seems the equations can be traced to where they’ve been entered, look, this one is in Amherst!” River said. “I bet that’s where Laura first encountered it!”

Another dot appeared next to Laura’s, except this one was right over the heart of campus. “What building is that, River?”

She peered closer. “That’s the art building! That’s where Lazzaro’s studio is!”

The Doctor threw his arms up and spun around, “So the art professor has seen the footage! He could have been the one to steal it in the first place! Oh, Rivah, this is bad! Bad, bad, bad, bad,”

“How could he have gotten to the Byzantium! He’s just another art professor!”

“Is he, Rivah?! Are you sure?”

She stalled. She hadn’t considered that perhaps Lazzaro was more than what he appeared.

“No,” she acquiesced. “I’m not sure.”

“We have to find his computer. If the equations are on there,” he didn’t finish his sentence.

With a pull of a lever and a twist of a knob, the TARDIS was off again.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The TARDIS landed behind the art studio. The campus was quiet, as night had fallen. The only lights were from the street lamps and the few offices with insomniac professors.

The Doctor locked the door and made his way back into the art studio.

“What do we do if the Angels are fully formed? Can they hurt us?” River asked.

“If they’re active, if they’re alive, then they won’t be in there anymore, they’ll have moved on to hunt,” The Doctor said.

“But what if hunting isn’t their main goal? Could they be waiting?”

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and opened the door to the building. He stayed silent, which worried her more.

Their footsteps echoed in the hallway as they made their way to Lazzaro’s studio. The hallways were dark, the only light emanating from the windows.

When they’d reached the violet door, the Doctor turned to River, touched her face, and said, “Don’t blink.”

With a wave of the sonic, the door opened.

The Angels, or what they had assumed were Angels, were all covered in cloth. Their wings stood out impressively underneath the coverings, but there was no doubt that these statues would be fully formed in no time at all. The Doctor and River kept their eyes trained on the covered granite, unsure if their movements could still be detected from the beings hidden beneath.

At the back of the studio, there was a tiny office that they presumed was Lazzaro’s. This is where the TARDIS had indicated that they’d find the equation. The Doctor approached the small door and aimed the sonic at the lock. The mechanism inside turned, and the door creaked open.

The Doctor flipped on the light.

River covered her mouth so she would not scream. The Doctor bowed his head and turned away.

It was a gruesome sight.

Lazzaro sat slumped in his chair, facing away from them, his back splayed open to reveal his spine.

“Doctor!” River choked out. “Doctor, what is this?”

“It’s what they did with Bob,” the Doctor said. “They stripped his cerebral cortex from his body.”

“An Angel’s kiss can make a new body, but it burns out so fast, they must have to keep reanimating his consciousness from the starting point in order to keep this project going.”

“Where is his laptop?” The Doctor asked.

“His laptop?!” River asked incredulously. “We know the Angels are actively using people for their bidding! What do we do about that?!”

The Doctor shook his head. “If the Angels are reusing his body, they’ll already have a plan, we have to get the laptop and go! They probably already know we are here!”

River nodded, and went forward towards the desk. “It’s locked, and it’s wood!” She felt around her hair for a bobby pin. Locating one, she knelt down in front of the desk and tried to undo the locks.

“Hurry!” The Doctor cried.

“I’m trying, honey!” Her hands were sweaty, she wanted out, she could smell the body rotting, turning to dust beside her.

Finally, the lock gave way, and inside sat a small, grey laptop.

“Let’s go!” The Doctor cried. River grabbed the laptop. Without looking back, they ran from the Angel’s lair.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  
  
  
  



End file.
